Hi! My name is Paula Escott. I was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and lived there while growing up alongside my mom, dad, brother and sister. My grandparents lived on a farm in the country, and I spent a lot of time there. I grew up with a lot of Pennsylvania Dutch traditions like making fastnachts (potato-based doughnuts) on Fat Tuesday every year, bringing a jar of pickled eggs (red beet eggs) to picnics and eating Lebanon bologna-cream cheese rollups. Many of my friends had never heard of these foods before, and it was fun while growing up to share my favorite foods with them and to try their families' traditional foods, too. Learning about new cultures and countries is exciting for me, especially eating and cooking new foods.
I went to college at the University of Maryland, which is close to Washington, D.C., the capital of our country. I studied Spanish and public health. The study of public health looks at big groups of people and how we can help them live healthy lives. People from many different backgrounds work in public health, and they aren’t all doctors and nurses. My favorite part of college was going to see special events in Washington, D.C. One night the embassies were open to the public, and you could go inside to see special art and cultural exhibits.
